Journalists released from Turkish jails pending appeal

May 9, 2014 4:05 PM ET

New York, May 9, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists
welcomes the release
from jail on Thursday of Fusün Erdoğan, former general manager of Özgür
Radyo, and Bayram Namaz, a columnist for the weekly Atılım, and urges Turkish authorities to remove restrictions on
their travel and lift their prison sentences on appeal.

Both journalists were imprisoned in September
2006 on a series of anti-state charges, including "breaching the
Constitution," "forming organizations with the intention of
committing crimes," "possessing hazardous substances without
permission," "endangering public safety intentionally,"
"damaging property," and "forgery of official documents,"
among others. In November 2013, the Tenth Court of Serious Crimes in Istanbul sentenced
Erdoğan and Namaz to life in jail. The journalists' lawyers told CPJ that they
have filed appeals to the Supreme Court of Appeals, and await hearing dates.

CPJ featured Erdoğan in a recent campaign
to free imprisoned journalists for World Press Freedom Day, May 3.

Last month, Turkish authorities freed three other reporters,
according to press
reports and local journalists and lawyers. They are Ahmet Birsin, general
manager of the television channel Gün TV; Hasan Özgüneş, a columnist for the
daily Azadiya Welat; and Kaan Ünsal,
a reporter for the biweekly Yürüyüş. Birsin and Özgüneş were
imprisoned in recent years in a crackdown against pro-Kurdish journalists and
news outlets which authorities accused of supporting the banned Kurdistan
Workers Party, or PKK, and the KCK, an umbrella group of pro-Kurdish
organizations that includes the PKK. Ünsal was imprisoned after being charged with
membership in the banned Revolutionary People's Salvation Party/Front (DHKP/C). The three journalists
still face trial.

All five journalists are barred from traveling outside
Turkey, their lawyers told CPJ.

At least 16 journalists continue to be imprisoned in Turkey,
CPJ research shows.

"We welcome these releases and urge the authorities to
continue until Turkey has no journalists behind bars or under threat of
imprisonment," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "This is a transformative year for Turkish
democracy, and media should be free of all political and judicial interference
in order to provide the information and platform for debate that citizens
need."

When CPJ conducted its annual prison census in
December 2013, Turkey was the world's worst jailer with at least 40 journalists
behind bars. Since then, 24 journalists have been freed from Turkish jails, but
most are still facing charges. Their releases
came after Turkey introduced changes to its anti-terrorism laws, reducing the term
for detention without conviction from 10 years to five years, and because of judicial
reform that eliminated certain courts with special authority. These courts heard
cases related to terrorism and organized crime and were granted higher
authority than regular criminal courts, but that authority was widely abused,
as documented by several local and international rights organizations,
including CPJ.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The alert has been corrected to reflect that Kaan Ünsal was imprisoned after being charged with membership in the banned DHKP/C party--not the banned PKK party.

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